MOUNT VERNON – Knox County needs 1,800 spots open for child care, the Area Development Foundation told City Council at its May 23 meeting.
Sam Filkins, vice president of the Area Development Foundation, and Julia Suggs, an administrative specialist for the ADF, presented the results of a workforce study on child care to City Council. The county has only 51% of its workforce employed, so the Area Development Foundation is looking for ways to help people enter the workforce.
“And we are specifically focusing on manufacturing and health care because those are the economic driving industries in Knox County – they employ people,” Suggs said.
A survey was sent out to the county’s top 25 employers by the number of employees, and then a public version was shared. The 589 responses represent 322 families with a total of 559 children.
“The key results that we ended up finding were that 92% of everybody that responded said they had a difficult time finding child care,” she said.
Most were employed, with some using as many as four different babysitters in a week for child care, with others driving more than an hour away for it.
A lack of child care is affecting a family member’s ability to have a job, 58 respondents said. An additional 55 residents said they’ve considered leaving their jobs due to child care needs.
Between the ADF’s survey and work by Groundwork Ohio this year, Filkins said, they determined that Knox County needs 1,800 child care spots.
“We’re not going to create 1,800 spots overnight,” he said.
Expanding current centers, adding new child care centers and encouraging more home-based centers are small bites at the apple to start helping.
Knox County has many preschool options, but most of them are half-day only. That doesn’t help someone with a full-time job, he said. Getting more of them to offer full-time options could help.
Safety and affordability are the top priorities for parents looking for child care, Suggs said. The median cost for child care in the county for a single child is $150 per week. Costs range from $50 at a neighbor’s house to $500 at a licensed center.
Affordable in Knox County would mean a family’s child care solution would cost $115 in total – not per child – weekly.
Local residents who earn child care certifications at places like the Knox Career Center go to Franklin or Licking counties because Knox doesn’t pay enough in comparison, Filkins said.
The ADF’s workforce study on child care was intended to bring awareness to the situation so that the community can come together with solutions, Suggs said.
